Bob Owens

Hello, Gorgeous

Written By: Bob
-
Oct•
29•11

I’ve written about Templar Custom rifles numerous times, from the full-auto .50 Beowulf PDW that I’ve had the opportunity to fire on several occasions to the Multi-Caliber-Weapons System (MCWS) that I reviewed for Shooting Illustrated recently.

Well, now I have one of my own.

Bob with Templar Custom 6.5 Grendel rifle, which he affectionately (disturbingly?) named "Gretchen."

It probably doesn’t look like much in this photo, just another M-forgery, but the devil is in the details. While your average joe shleps around a rifle with a practical range of about 500 meters, the dusky blonde in my arms is designed to excel at a distance out to 800 meters and beyond. “Gretchen” is what the Mk 12 Special Purpose Rifle aspires to be, with an M-4′s svelte figure and weight, and more down-range energy than a .308.

She is chambered in 6.5 Grendel and boasts a cut 18″ progressive-twist barrel, and should be able to shoot Hornady Match A-Max 123-grain bullets that it was optimized for in sub-MOA groups further than any distance I am likely to be able to identify targets.

I’m leaning towards glassing her with the SWFA SS10x42M and SSALT cantilever mount, and I’m sure we’ll be very happy together.